Untitled

Description

As a child, I would translate my feelings into portraits, the visages expressing joy or sorrow, screaming with pain & anger or just smiling enigmatically, was an expression of my own inner turmoil and emotions. Thus my journey as an artist began quite early. My father was the vice Principal of Jamia School, which was adjacent to the Department of Fine Arts, Jamia Millia Islamia. As a child I was deeply fascinated by nature. Jamia with its semi wild surroundings was an ideal playground for a young naturalist like me. I would spend hours in the forest gathering caterpillars and their pupae. I would take my collection back home and observe the eggs evolve into butterflies with all their splendid beauty. The fragile wet wings of the butterflies would harden upon emerging from the pupae and the butterfly would eventually fly off giving me immense joy. Later this childhood passion developed into a deep and abiding interest and I think metaphorically, art is also like a butterfly emerging from a pupa. My encounter with nature and its beauty, finds its way into my work. Eventually I graduated from the Department of Fine Arts with a Degree in Fine Art. From the moment I laid hands on my artistic tools, acrylic on canvas has been my forte. With my paintings I vent my feelings and emotions, giving myriad expressions to my portraits. I etch faces that have a tale to tell, but not necessarily a complete one. Sometimes it starts abruptly and sometimes, ends when your involvement is at the peak. Sometimes it is not just a face, but also a window, to the stories untold, voices unheard and lives un-faired. Sometimes, it’s a symphony of colours; a riot so splendid that it will move you. It will stay with you to fill you with rapture again and again. And while my mind stays arrested by the stunning melody of colours, often inspired from nature, I simultaneously explore the mysterious universe of the contrast. The bluntness of black and white, often mistaken for softness, is striking. It hits you hard. It holds you. It tells you that life can be divided into the blacks, the whites and a thousand shades of grey. Until the loud, enchanting colours envelope the truth – sometimes in sugar, sometimes in salt. Also, I realised that an artist doesn’t always pick a subject. It is observed from a repeating, recurring pattern in your works. Works that start with one thought and end with the other. But essentially, the love for Mother Nature features in my art. It keeps me grounded, strong to my roots, reminding me that I belong to the soil. Further, strong use of red, yellow, green and blue speaks of my fascination with colours, as intricate as the shades in a butterfly’s wings. My creations, essentially speak of my deepest inspirations, and the earthiness of my being. Most of my finest landscape artworks revolve around flowers, grass and small shrubs. They often depict clean blue sky, with lots of reds, yellows and greens on earth. The illusion of gushing wind, caressing the beautiful flowers; soft rains kissing the new-born leaves and petals, along with the richness and boldness of colours, will surely catch your attention.